Newcomers lead Sting to victory
By DAVE BORODY
The two newest additions to the Sarnia Sting paid instant dividends Friday night.
Newcomers Brett Thompson and Craig Duininck each had a goal and an assist in leading the Sting to a 6-2 victory over the Windsor Spitfires in front of 3,637 fans at the RBC Centre.
The win improved Sarnia’s record to 12-2-0-3 in the Ontario Hockey League.
Thompson, who the Sting acquired in a trade from Erie, is in his final year in the OHL while Duininck played against his old team after coming over from Windsor this week.
“I’m excited to come to Sarnia,” said Thompson. “I thanked Erie as I had a great time there, but when you see some of the names on this Sting roster, it doesn’t get much better than this. I love to score and I love to win. This is my last year in the league and I want to go out a winner.”
Thompson admitted being a little nervous.
“I had the first-game jitters for a couple of reasons. We had five overagers in Erie and I haven’t played for a while. Also, this is my fourth team in the league so it was nice to get a couple of points and get that monkey off my back early.”
Sting head coach Jacques Beaulieu was pleased with the play of his two new players.
“Thompson did what he had to do. He scored a nice goal as he picked the top corner. I’ve seen him do that a lot during his career. I thought Duininck was pretty good. Craig knows how to play and has been taught to play that right way. He’s a good stay-at-home defenceman and that’s why we went out and got him.”
The Sting never trailed in the game as they jumped out to a 3-1 advantage after one period and held a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes before scoring the only two goals of the third period.
Beaulieu was generally pleased with the effort of his team.
“We were a little sloppy at times. Having new faces in your lineup means it might take some time for everyone to get adjusted. We had an okay first period, but got lazy in the second period and not ready to work. But we are finding our way.”
When asked about the fact Windsor came into the game losers of seven in a row, Beaulieu said, “The kids aren’t stupid. They know what’s going on. But they have to understand they are going to get their points if they play the right way.”
Sarnia was extremely efficient in period one against former teammate John Cullen as they scored three times on just five shots.
Taylor Carnevale opened the scoring just a minute into the game when he knocked in a loose puck from close range. Duininck extended the lead to 2-0 at 4:14 as he picked the top corner on the glove side from the right point.
After Windsor’s Saverio Posa cut the lead to 2-1 at 8:45, Alex Basso scored what turned out to be the winning goal for the Sting at 10:34 when his shot from the point was partially stopped by Cullen, but the puck still found its way over the line.
Windsor closed the gap to 3-2 five minutes into period two when Alex Khoklachev snapped a wrist shot past Sting goalie Brandon Hope.
But Craig Hottot restored Sarnia’s two-goal cushion at 14:46 with his seventh goal of the season deflecting home a point shot from Nathan Chiarlitti.
Sarnia put the game on ice in the third period as Thompson scored at 11:19 from the slot while Charlie Sarault banged home a rebound on a power play at 16:25.
Thompson described his goal.
“I got the puck in the slot and figured I would have to shoot quick. But they sort of collapsed back to their goalie. I saw a hole high on the glove side and shot it there. I knew the goalie couldn’t see the puck.”
Sarnia finished with a 41-22 edge in shots on goal. Hope recorded his first victory since Oct. 10th when the Sting edged Windsor in overtime.
The Sting resume action Saturday night when they take on the Guelph Storm for the first time this season beginning at 7:05 p.m. at the RBC Centre.
STING NOTES
– Thompson was the game’s first star with Chiarlitti second star and Duininck third star. Chiarlitti and Brett Ritchie had two assists each.
– Basso was the Dickies hardest-working player of the game.
– Sarnia was one-for-five on the power play and Windsor zero-for-three. The Sting has the top-ranked penalty kill in the OHL operating at 89.9 percent. They have allowed just seven power play goals to opposing teams.
– Nail Yakupov notched one assist to take over top spot in the OHL scoring race with 12 goals and 23 assists for 35 points.
– Sarnia’s home record improved to 7-1-0-2.
– Sarnia is now 2-1-0-0 against Windsor this season. They meet three more times.
Dave Borody is a freelance writer who covers Sting games both home and away and also does features for the Sting Website.
